


tumbling home

by dreamerfound



Category: Marvel 616, Young Avengers (Comics)
Genre: F/F, Family, Found Family, Friendship, Home, M/M, Pumpkins, Reunions, Team as Family
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-07
Updated: 2019-10-07
Packaged: 2020-11-26 20:20:51
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,789
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20936168
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/dreamerfound/pseuds/dreamerfound
Summary: Kate and America return to the East Coast after their time in California and their friends welcome them home.





	tumbling home

**Author's Note:**

  * For [FairestCat](https://archiveofourown.org/users/FairestCat/gifts).

> Happy Halloween FairestCat, I hope you enjoy this.

Kate stretched as she got out of the car. She'd been driving without a break for the past four hours and every part of her body felt tense and stiff. America jumped out from the passenger seat looking energetic and fresh. Of course, she did. Kate shook her head and smiled. 

The trip from the West Coast back to New York had taken longer than either of them had planned. A cross-country road trip had sounded like a super fun idea when she'd first thought of it, and for the most part, it had been. It had also been excruciatingly exhausting. Kate felt like she could sleep for a week, maybe longer. What was supposed to have been a three-day trip -- totally doable with the two of them spitting time behind the wheel -- had turned into an ordeal that had lasted just three days shy of two weeks. This was mostly because they'd stopped to help people in need on multiple occasions. It was hard to let go of the superhero thing, even when you were supposed to be taking a bit of a vacation from it. They were home now though, or at Billy and Teddy's home anyways.

The house looked small from the outside. It was a two-family deal with off-white siding and a green roof -- or was that moss growing on the roof? Kate was pretty sure she could see some plants peeking out from the gutters. This was her first time seeing it in person. Billy and Teddy had bought the place when she and America were still in California. When they were ready to come home the boys had offered them a place to stay, as long as they needed. She still wasn't one hundred percent sure about -- well everything. She was grateful they'd offered the space but at the same time, it kind of seemed like a step backward. She'd been gone a while and she wasn't sure if she was really welcome here or if they were just being polite. They were friends, of course, had been for ages. For a while, they had even been teammates, but that had been a long time ago and these days they rarely even saw each other. For the last few years, it had been all emails and texts with the occasional video chat. Did they even really know each other anymore?

Kate's attention strayed to what looked like a row of pumpkins on the porch; if said pumpkins had been ravaged by wild beasts. That boded poorly. "Um...maybe this was a bad idea."

"Hey." America pressed her up against the car with a gentle push. "Don't try and talk yourself out of this. Coming back to the East Coast was your idea, remember?"

"And I never have bad ideas?" Kate wrapped her arms around America's waist. 

America smiled and kissed her. "Never ever."

Kate laughed. "You're a very bad liar." 

"You say that like it's a bad thing. We're heroes, we're not supposed to be good liars." America lifted Kate's chin and looked her in the eyes. "The truth is, your ideas aren't really bad -- most of them anyway -- it's just that sometimes things don't work out. That's not on you."

"I am so lucky that you love me."

"Took you long enough to figure it out it." America pulled her away from the car. "Come on princess, we've got friends to see and unpacking to conquer."

Kate looked up at the dilapidated building and frowned. "Maybe it looks better on the inside."

America shrugged. "Can't look worse."

"Don't jinx us."

America laughed and together they grabbed their bags from the car. The boxes that held the rest of their belongings could wait. Kate rang the doorbell a moment before she noticed familiar faces in the window gawking at her. Gawking at them. She groaned. She may have left out a few things when she'd spoken to Billy and Teddy on the phone. She had tried, but she hadn't been sure how to bring it up without making a big deal out of it.

"You didn't tell them, did you?"

"About us?" It wasn't that she was embarrassed, she just didn't want to deal with the teasing that was sure to follow, no matter how well-intentioned it might be. 

"Yeah, about us," America said, sounding all too knowing.

"It's possible that it maybe could have possibly slipped my mind."

"They're going to be insufferable."

"They're going to be happy for us?" Kate hoped so anyway.

"That's what I said."

Tommy came barreling out the door faster than her eyes could track. Kate felt herself being pulled into a hug before she even saw him. America put her hands up. "Don't even think about it." 

"Sure, sure but didn't I just see you and Kate hugging out there by the car? You know, hugging with your lips." He waggled his eyebrows.

"I believe that's called kissing; you remember what kissing is, don't you Tommy?" Billy said. Teddy stood beside him, arm around his shoulder and a friendly smile on his face.

"Fuck you," Tommy said with a grin, before turning back to Kate and America.

"Tommy, let Kate and America come in before you maul them," Teddy said.

"How about we just skip the mauling," America said. 

They were welcomed into the house, which, thankfully, was a lot nicer looking on the inside than it had been on the outside. 

"I will take all the mauling -- and by mauling I mean hugs, please," Kate said, letting herself get wrapped up in Teddy's massive arms. "So, what's up with the pumpkin massacre outside?" Kate asked when Teddy put her down.

Billy laughed. "We're thinking raccoons or maybe squirrels."

"It's definitely squirrels," Tommy said.

"Squirrels?" Kate asked.

"We have some really feral squirrels around here, there's like a tiny little gang of them -- total trouble makers," Tommy said.

"He's not wrong about that, they've been dropping acorns onto our car," Teddy said.

"Dropping? The little thugs are totally throwing them on purpose," Tommy insisted.

Billy rolled his eyes and pulled Kate into a hug. "It's so good to see you."

"We saw her on TV a bunch of times," Tommy said.

Kate groaned. The whole reality television thing she'd been roped into on the West Coast had seemed like -- well it had actually seemed like a bad idea at the time, but it turned out to be an even worse idea. Go figure. 

"Is this everything you brought?" Teddy asked.

"No, the rest of the stuff is in the car, we'll get that in a minute, just need to rest for a bit first. It was a long trip." Kate said.

"Yeah, weren't you supposed to be here last week or something?" Tommy asked.

"Hey Tommy why don't you bring in the rest of their stuff," Billy said.

"He doesn't have to --" Kate started to say. Tommy was gone and back before she could finish the sentence and the rest of their stuff was now in a pile just inside the door.

"Are you guys hungry or did you eat on the road?" Teddy asked.

"I could definitely eat. The last time we stopped for food was breakfast," America said. It was already dark.

"I am starving. Do we need to order something? Can it wait until I get a shower?" Kate felt grimy and gross.

"Teddy made lasagne, we just need to heat it up," Billy said.

"Teddy, you are a saint. Have I ever told you that?" Kate grabbed the bag with her clothes and toiletries. 

Teddy laughed. "You have time to shower. I just need to pop this in the oven for about twenty minutes." 

"I could use a shower too," America said. Kate blushed and Billy showed them the way to the bathroom. 

They showered together swiftly and efficiently. Kate was all too aware of her friends on the other side of the door. She knew she was going to have to get used to it if they were going to be living there for any length of time, but tonight they didn't linger, at least not for very long.

They were greeted by the delicious aroma of spicy tomato sauce and melted cheese as they left the bathroom in a puff of steam.

Kate's stomach growled. "Oh my god, that smells so good. Teddy, you are the literal best."

"She's not wrong," Billy said. He leaned in and gave his boyfriend a kiss. They were so cute. Kate loved that these two were still together. It gave her hope; for herself, for the world, for everything really. 

They all sat around a big wooden table that dominated just about the whole dining room. It was so seriously adult, it was painful. Not only was there the homemade lasagne, there was even a salad.

The conversation was more than comfortable. Everything seemed to just click back into place, almost as if she'd never left. This was her family. She'd forgotten how that had felt. She probably shouldn't let herself do that again. 

The food was amazing. Teddy, it turned out, was a fantastic cook. Kate burned her tongue on a mouthful of lasagne and hadn't even cared. That's how good it was.

They all talked about what they'd been up to recently. They even talked about the possibility of putting the team back together once Kate and America were done with their break.  
Eventually, the conversation came around to their living arrangements. "So, you'll be needing two bedrooms or..." Billy trailed off.

"One's fine," America said. 

Kate nodded. They'd already talked about this privately. Part of her worried about moving in together too early in their relationship, but they'd been friends forever and it wasn't as if they hadn't lived together before. It would all work out fine.

"Cool. We've got the upstairs too, but we mostly rent that out." Teddy said.

Tommy scoffed. "If by 'rent it out' you mean let random superhero types stay there for free, sure we totally rent it out."

"Sometimes they pay," Billy said.

"Not with money. Remember that guy who paid in pizza?" Tommy asked.

"Hey, you ate that pizza," Billy pointed out.

Tommy shrugged. "It was pizza." 

Tommy left after dinner for some mysterious errand he refused to elaborate on. The rest of them talked well into the night. When Kate started to fall asleep the boys shooed them off the bed, insisting there'd be plenty of time to talk the next day. 

"So, what do you think, princess?" America stripped down to her underthings and got into bed. "You think things are going to work out here?"

Kate smiled."I think we're finally home" She cuddled around her girlfriend and swiftly fell asleep.

**Author's Note:**

> Many thanks to my beta, they know who they are.


End file.
